


Bleeding out

by Finnylein1991



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Angst, Biting, Danny Fenton - Freeform, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gay, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pain, Pompous Pep, Pre-Slash, Sickfic, Slash, danny phantom - Freeform, older Danny, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23668636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finnylein1991/pseuds/Finnylein1991
Summary: An unfortunate event forces Danny to seek Vlad for help.Older!Danny"Danny hesitated. His hand was lingering on top of the palatial door bell. He hasn’t been here in years. How many? Three? Four? He was 20 now – Another wave of pain cut through his body, forcing him to bend forward in a pathetic attempt to reduce its severity. For a mere second he saw white and couldn’t breathe."
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Vlad Masters
Comments: 26
Kudos: 225





	1. Chapter 1

Hi all.

I know not many people read the description before a story, but I wanted to inform you anyway a little bit about the situation here :D I already know exactly where to go in this story (it’s already written in my head), however, I don’t have so much free time to write due to my job. I will definitely update regularly, but don’t expect any beautifully written and long texts. English is not my first language and I just started to write stories in this language. So I mainly try to deliver the plot. I hope you still enjoy J

And sorry for this messed up paring D:

* * *

Danny hesitated. His hand was lingering on top of the palatial door bell. He hasn’t been here in years. How many? Three? Four? He was 20 now – Another wave of pain cut through his body, forcing him to bend forward in a pathetic attempt to reduce its severity. For a mere second he saw white and couldn’t breathe.

“Fuck this.” He really didn’t know where else to go and what else to do. The moment the pain faded slightly, he changed into is ghost form just to pass through the door without knocking. Who was he kidding? Why knocking when Vlad would have already sensed him. Danny switched back to his human form, collapsed on the floor, desperately grabbing his left side where ectoplasm and blood was slowly dripping out of the wound. Everything started to turn. He wanted to vomit. Vomit this feeling of being devoured from the inside out of his body. But he couldn’t. He tasted salt of dried sweat on his lips. A new wave of heat and pain ran through his body and it reacted. It forced Danny to change into his ghost alter ego. Then back after only a few seconds.

“What is happening?” he mumbled to himself, trying to suppress another forced change into his ghost form. He started to panic. He has never felt that much out of control. His body changed again. Changed back in another few seconds, leaving Danny gasping for air. He winced, when a hand touched his chest, pressing him into the ground. He hadn’t even noticed Vlad appearing by his side.

“Daniel,” the older halfa said with a slightly concerned tone. Danny hasn’t heard that before. Concern? He barely managed to open his eyes. Normally, he would have never come here. He knew better than asking his nemesis for help. But where else should he go? The pain in his side had grown immensely the last week. He couldn’t even breathe without pain. He also never had a wound that wouldn’t heal in his ghost state. Everything was fine after a while. Broken bones, punctured lungs, bleeding flesh wounds. When the fever had set in, he had dragged himself over here. This was his last straw. The pain and fear for his life crushed all his pride, all his hate, all his avoidance of Vlad. He begged, “please, Vlad. I can’t- I don’t know-.” He removed his hands to show Vlad where the problem was. His vision blurred, prohibiting him to read any reaction in Vlad’s face. Any sense of compassion, he was hoping for. Or pity. His body was shaking, before he turned again into his ghost form, which made Vlad take his hand from his chest.

“Stop, he commanded. “Stay human.”

“I can’t.”

He tried to turn to his right side to elevate the pressure of the wound. It was a hopeless attempt. “I can’t control it,” but Danny morphed back the second he spoke these words.

“I should let you die, Daniel Fenton. Why are you coming to me with this?” But Vlad didn’t wait for an answer. He turned to Plasmius and let himself sink down through the ceiling to his lab. He should let him die. He should be amused by this twist of fate. He should be relieved that their fighting was coming to an end and that he would be the only halfa remaining on this planet.

Vlad loved order and tidiness. It took him a mere minute to find what he was looking for in one of his many cabinets. He examined the small metallic object in his hand, taking his time while Daniel was probably going through the worst pain he ever encountered in his short life. Miserable life. He really should let him just die in his lobby. He flew back up. Daniel was again in his ghost form. The first thing he had noticed when he saw the boy besmearing his carpet with blood and ectoplasm was that his ghost form had changed. He hasn’t seen this form for some years, so the change was quite a catch to the eye. He was somewhat taller, obviously, but Daniel’s skin tone was slightly changing to a faint green, his ears had been growing pointy and there were fangs. Smaller than his own. But fangs. He knelt down next to him, grabbed one of his arms and put on the metallic bracelet. Daniel immediately turned back into his human form.

Danny’s body jolted, trying to turn back into the ghost form again. But this time he couldn’t. “What-?” He forced his eyes open to look at Vlad, who was again kneeling next to him, holding one of his arms – now with a thick metal bracelet – in front of his face.

“ _Thekarion,”_ Vlad explained. Danny didn’t understand. “An ancient bracelet forged by a South American tribe that were fighting wars with ghosts. It restricts any of your ghost powers and keeps you in your human form.” Vlad let go, shoved his arms under Danny’s body and picked him up. The sudden movement shot a new wave of pain through his body, but Danny didn’t protest. He just wanted to get rid of this pain. Vlad went on with his explanation while caring him somewhere, “Your body instinctively tries to stay in its ghost form to heal the wound. However, this wound won’t heal on its own. It’s taking too much energy from your ghost core, so much, that you might pass out. Shortly before that your body tries to go back into its human form just to be greeted with an even higher amount of pain.” Danny heard the words, but he could not grasp any of them. He passed out after a few more seconds.

Vlad noticed when he went down to the lab. He sighed when he lifted Daniel on the center table. The white shirt of the boy was completely soaked with blood and ectoplasm. Vlad put on gloves, before he cut the T shirt loose, peeled off an equally soaked band aid and examined the wound. It was a hand sized wound at the height of his rips. Not deep, but the border was an portentous black. What kind of being created a wound that won’t heal in a ghost body? There was something in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t quite remember. Something he had read a long while ago when he was studying ghosts. Vlad looked up, watched Daniel’s now peaceful face with concern. He was covered in sweat. Even for a halfa it didn’t look that great. Would he be able to survive, even with his help? He turned back to the wound, grabbed a sterile scalpel and an object slide to peel a little bit of the dark turned skin off onto it. He wanted to observer it under the microscope. With a last glance to Daniel, he walked into the adjacent microscopy room.

He should let him die. But he couldn’t.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter :)


	2. Chapter 2

Capter 2

Time and space became a blur. Danny woke up several times, taking in his surroundings, trying to make sense of past evens, but his brain was just not capable of understanding. Every last cell in his body was focused on healing. He remembered waking up a few times to Vlad doing something at his wound, which was always accompanied by an intense pinching pain. He had mumbled a few words occasionally, but fell back into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness before the older could have answered or even made sense out of the muffled sounds coming out of his mouth. This might be the first time he woke up without feeling absolutely whacked.

The first thing Danny noticed before he even opened his eyes was the softness of the bed that he was laying in, followed by how hot he felt and how difficult it was to breathe. Only when his eyes were able to focus he noticed the IV bag above his head. The next thing he recognized was … “Vlad.” God, his throat felt horribly dry.

“Mh,” Vlad hummed without looking up. He was sitting on a low chair to his left side, apparently observing the horrible wound. Danny tried to see what he was doing, but turning his head hurt. Vlad looked very concentrated. He was wearing a white shirt, with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Danny noticed he was wearing blue medical gloves. Everything was slow. Was the world at its normal speed?

“I feel horrible,” he moaned to himself, while eyeing the IV bag again. He traced the tube down to his hand, where it entered his veins. Danny lifted it slightly to analyze the big band aid hiding a needle at the back of his hand. Did Vlad do this? Did he had knowledge of medical procedures? Wondering he looked back at the man, just to meet ice blue. For a second Danny just stared, processed, then he couldn’t hold his gaze. He felt weak and pathetic. He didn’t like not being in control and it was even worse giving up all his control to someone else.

Danny lifted his right hand above his face to look at what was causing this weird feeling around his wrist. A metallic bracelet. Sudden fatigue crashed over him. For a moment he needed to close his eyes and still his breathing. He should be happy for still being alive, but everything in his body was aching. His memory set in at the exact same time. He had entered Vlad’s villa, begging for help. Literally begging for help. Funny how fate dealt its cards. He was laying in the bed of his nemesis, who had saved him from inevitable death. His instinct was screaming at him to get up, to fight, or at least to question Vlad’s motives. But he was tired, he was so damn tired of fighting. Maybe once he was back in good shape. If Vlad wanted to kill him, he has had his perfect chance. Then, their relationship always had this weird dynamic. There were occasions where Vlad literally tried to kill him, just to sit next to him at the Fenton’s dinner table the next day. Danny had already asked Vlad for help previously, and if things wouldn’t have turned out horribly wrong, the nature of their relation would have changes at this point. But to this date, Danny wasn’t sure if Vlad had been so compassionate to help, because he had change to the better or because Vlad followed his egoistic hidden motives. Danny tried to collect his thoughts – there is no point breaking his head over this now - and examined the bracelet again. “What is that?” He looked questioning back to Vlad. The other halfa sighed and placed whatever he had in his hands on a small wooden board next to the bed, followed by the gloves.

He stood up from his chair, “An ancient artifact prohibiting you to switch to your ghost form,” he explained matter-of-factly.

“Why?” he asked while closely monitoring how Vlad reached over and poured some water into a glass.

“Your body instinctively tries to stay in its ghost form to heal the wound. However, this wound won’t heal on its own. It’s taking too much energy from your ghost core, so much, that you might pass out. Shortly before that your body tries to go back into its human form just to be greeted with an even higher amount of pain,” Vlad quoted himself.

“Oh,” Danny tried to sit up a little bit to take the glass the other offered him. It was the moment he noticed that he was not wearing his T-shirt anymore. A huge band aid was covering the wound at his left side. This time it was not soaked with ectoplasm and blood. Danny’s glance went further down. Was he at least wearing-? Yes, Yes, he was wearing pants. Not his own, though. A blanket was curled up around his knees displaying dark gray and very soft sweatpants. These were definitely not Danny’s, but also not Vlad’s? No, definitely not Vlad’s. He could feel that the pants were not too long for his legs. He had grown a few centimeters the last years and was not that small anymore compared to Vlad, however, they still had a good size difference between them. Wherever the pants came from, thinking that Vlad had undressed and dressed him was awkward. Horribly awkward. If his body felt like fire before, it definitely felt like lava now. He finally took the glass and drank it. It hopefully contained poison, so he would be put out of his misery quickly.

Vlad took the glass back and commanded Daniel to lay back down. He needed to work on the wound. After he put his gloves back on, he removed the band aid with careful precision to give way to the sobbing and quite strong smelling wound. Vlad noticed how the boy’s breathing sped up and how more sweat collected on his stomach. He was definitely not safe yet. He had monitored Daniel’s fever with slight worry, as it was rising instead of falling. “Care to explain what happened?”

Danny remained silent for a good minute, before he spoke, “I don’t know. I can’t remember. I only remember being attacked by a ghost on the way to school and that’s it. It was fast. I think just one blow and before I could fight back, it was gone. I think … ” Daniel sounded confused, but even more exhausted, “No, I really have no idea.”

Vlad didn’t look up, as he was fully fixated on his work. He grabbed a scalpel and a raspatory to carefully scraping off the necrotic skin. “School?” he asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Are you not supposed to be in college?”

“Yeah. I should be,” Daniel admitted. “I failed my last year twice.”

Vlad looked up, but Daniel was staring at the ceiling. Distracted, he cut off a little bit too much skin, which made Daniel jolt in pain.

“My apologies,” Vlad was a bit more amused than he should. Vlad knew that once Daniel acquired his ghost powers, that his education had suffered greatly. He once offered the boy tutoring, but of course he only suspected an evil motive behind that. Daniel hadn’t been so wrong. He indeed wanted to get closer to the boy, to show his mother, his former love, that he would be a better addition to the family than Daniel’s moron of a father. However, these things belonged to the past.

Daniel started to move on the bed. He was trying to sit up, probably to have a better look at what he was doing, “What are you actually doing?”

“Stay down. I am taking off dead skin. It’s infectious, don’t move too much or you’ll get a second wound.”

“Infectious? Do you know what it is?”

Vlad proceeded his work, “A symbiotic ghost.”

“WHAT?!” the boy exclaimed.

“A symbiotic ghost and bacterium. A streptococcus bacterium, that causes necrotizing fascilitis – or better known as the flesh eating bacterium for school drop outs –“

“Hey! I am not a drop-“ Daniel interrupted himself, when he realized that Vlad simply kept on speaking.

“Joined forces with a small ghost species that normally lives on the skin of larger ghosts like a parasite. The wonders of nature. It’s also the reason why you can die from it. It affects your ghost as well as your human half.”

“Holy shit.”

“Language, Daniel.”

“Will I-? Is it getting better? I still feel really bad. I don’t think it’s getting better,” he sounded anxious.

“It will,” Vlad answered calmly. “ But it will take time. Two weeks, maybe three.”

Vlad didn’t look up while he proceeded his work. He noticed that Daniel’s breathing stilled after a while. He must be fatigue. The medication and pain killers he gave him had a strong side effect. Once Vlad finished, he cleaned the wound and applied a new clean band aid, before he carefully stored away his tools for sterilization, removed his gloves and went on to remove the IV tube from Daniel’s hand. It was done. “What about your parents?”

“What’s with them?” Daniel kicked the blanket off his knees.

“They will want to see you. At least know where you are,” Vlad pulled the blanket back over the boy’s body. “You’ll get a cold. Leave it on.”

“I am horribly warm.”

“Because you have a fever.”

Danny pulled the blankets off his body again. He really couldn’t stand the heat. The blanket was thin and just enough to protect from the cold air, but he felt like suffocating and he was sweating like hell. His whole body felt as if it’d be boiling.

“Daniel,” Vlad’s icy tone let him pause his actions. “If you die of a cold, all my work was for nothing, so keep the blanket on. Don’t let me regret saving you.”

Danny gave in with a huff, “Fine.” Vlad was short-tempered and Danny could already hear the annoyance in the older’s voice. He didn’t want to start a fight.

“Your parents now.”

“I moved out. They won’t notice a thing.”

Vlad raised an eyebrow, “You moved out but still go to school?”

Man, why all this interrogation? “Sam and Tuck went to college in Amity Park. They moved in together and I joined in shortly after. It’s just easier with all the ghost stuff.”

“But not for your grades apparently. They won’t help their friend get through school?”

Danny groaned in annoyance, “It’s not so easy ok? They have their own problems! Why do you want to know?”

“Will they wonder?”

“No, I left them a message that I will be gone for a while. They know I had some …”ghost” problems. Why are you asking, plotting my death?” He couldn’t help himself. He felt horribly exhausted, annoyed, maybe even angry and he didn’t know why. It was like an old routine to push this on Vlad. To let it out on Vlad.

“Believe me, I’d have loved to let you die in my lobby.”

“Why didn’t you?” Danny asked flippant.

Vlad took his time to answer, “ I am starting to wonder as well.”

Danny broke the eye contact and brushed his hair out of his face. This wasn’t right. From all the people he could have turned to …actually, he only could have turned to Vlad. His parents would have killed him, knowing he was half ghost. Sam and Tuck knew, but they couldn’t help in some matters. Vlad was the only other halfa he knew off. If he wouldn’t have been so obsessed in world domination they could have been friends. Danny wanted to apologize, but Vlad preempted him.

“Apologize my intrusion, little badger, but you don’t seem alight, aside from the awful wound,” Vlad interposed.

Danny looked at him. He hadn’t heard this nickname in a while, “Honestly, since when are you so interested in my well-being?”

“When have I not?” Vlad had a point there. “Am I not now?” He gestured towards the wound.

“You tried to kill me multiple times! Not just me, but also my family.”

“The family you so eagerly tried to get away from?”

“That’s not the point! They are still my parents.” God, he felt so exhausted. He sank further in the cushions, trying to catch his breath. He closed his eyes for a second. His head was aching. Things were still the same. Everything changed in his life, but Vlad was a solid rock. Not a pleasant one, but at least something he could trust on. He opened his eyes, when he noticed Vlad collecting things from the wooden side board. He was about to leave.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“You are not necessarily over the worst.”

“But I already feel better.”

“I noticed. You talk a lot.”

“Why did you help me?”

Vlad moved towards the door, “You’re the only other halfa I know, Daniel. Eternity would be quite boring without you troubling my life.”

* * *

A slightly longer chapter this time :)

I hope you enjoyed!

Have a nice weekend


	3. Chapter 3

Danny woke up to Vlad changing the IV bag above his bed. He felt … feverish, dizzy and incredibly fatigue. But also slightly better. At least the urge to vomit his guts out had stopped. He wasn’t able to eat anything yesterday, so Vlad had brought him tea. Danny noticed how experienced and skilled Vlad seemed when he did all these medical things. His hands knew exactly what do to.

“How come you know all this?” he finally asked.

“You need to be a little bit more specific,” Vlad didn’t look down at him while he finished preparing the next infusion.

“The medical stuff. And what kind of wound I have. Also how to treat it,” Danny was honestly in awe. Vlad knew so many things in various fields, while he was repeating his last school year … for the third time. It was embarrassing. In his defense: learning about his ghost powers and fighting off evil was a full-time job. He could barely find time to breath let alone study.

“Years of practicing and studying. You know, I offered you all this before,” Vlad reminded him and Danny did remember. He honestly had considered asking Vlad for help after he failed his last school year for the first time. But then Tuck and Sam had offered him help. If only it would have worked out. It failed partly, because his friends had even more trouble during college and thus less time for him and partly, because Danny didn’t find the time for himself. Maybe also because he had drawn back from their friendship slightly. Sam and Tuck seemed different. College was a whole new world and he had stayed behind, while they were moving forward. Still going to school and being the ghost boy made him feel like an outcast. More than it already did. Tuck and Sam might have felt exactly the same when he had shown them his ghost powers. A whole new world, that they couldn’t step into at all. And while both his friends helped him enormously exploring his new found powers, they weren’t able to answer all his questions: Why was his ghost form changing? Why were his emotions recently so much out of control when he turned ghost? If there are ghost that can form a symbiosis with bacteria, what else is there that he didn’t know about?

Vlad attached the IV bag tube to the needle in his hand and started the infusion. Danny realized that the older man was still waiting for an answer, “I know. I mean, how do you remember all of the things that you study?”

Vlad raised an eyebrow, “Ever heard of self-discipline? Sit down and study, practice, repeat. Concentrate on the important things and don’t waste time.”

“I don’t want to end up like you.”

“Pardon me? Is that not what you are asking?”

“I mean ‘alone’,” that was a low blow. Danny had no idea why he was trying to provoke Vlad. Was he that bored? Was he uncomfortable finding no reason to _not_ trust him. Vlad had saved him, yes, but what if he had hidden motives? Danny held eye contact only for a second, before he glanced at the metallic bracelet on his right arm. He shouldn’t have said that. He definitely shouldn’t have said that.

Vlad huffed, grabbed Danny’s chin vigorously and forced him to look into his now flaming red eyes. Danny’s body tensed. Shit.

“The difference between me and you, Daniel, is that I _chose_ being alone. I _chose_ this life,” Vlad spat angrily. They both knew this wasn’t entirely true. When Danny saw his fangs, the urge to turn ghost rushed through his body, but the bracelet forbid. He felt horribly weak, which made Vlad even more intimidating and that took away all his courage to answer. They stared at each other for a few more seconds, before Vlad released his chin, eyes turning back to their normal cold blue. Danny was fully alert now. All small hairs on his body were standing up, while adrenaline rushed through his body. His breathing was audible and a faint layer of sweat had collected on his forehead. Would he really hurt him? After he went through all the process of healing him? Danny came to the conclusion that Vlad probably would, if he’d provoke him further.

“Here, eat and drink something,” Vlad voice had lost all of its aggression. He gestured towards a tablet with food on the sideboard next to the bed before he turned and left the room. He was not taking care of the wound? Danny wanted to thank him for the food, somehow also say sorry, but he waited a moment too long and then felt too awkward to speak up. It took him another moment to breathe out he tension in his body. Why was he provoking Vlad? In the end, the older had indeed saved him. He really should start to trust him.

Danny sat up slowly and examined the food. It was a bowl of soup, which made him feel really hungry all of a sudden. Even if every movement was still painful, he turned to the side, let his feet hang off the bed and pulled the sideboard a bit closer, so that he could eat without spilling on the bed. The soup was … good. It was a simple chicken soup but very rich in flavor. If Danny wouldn’t have been so hungry, he would have enjoyed every bite a bit more, but now he was basically shoving the food in his cramping stomach. Only when he finished, he noticed his phone laying on the sideboard as well. Vlad must have taken it out of his jeans, when he passed out.

28 unread messages. 1 call.

His parents had asked him how he’d been. They regularly check on him. Danny replied that he was fine, but that he wouldn’t join the Sunday dinner because of a massive amount of homework. One guy from school had send him a text. They were something like friends. _Pete_ had failed his last school year as well, so they were the only two, who didn’t know everyone else in the new class. Needless to say, they became friends. However, _Pete_ didn’t know anything about his secret life.

All the other messages and the call came from the group chat with Tuck and Sam. They were asking how he’s been, where he is, if they should come and save him. Danny smiled. He felt cared for. He had told both about the wound and after it didn’t get any better that he had an idea and would leave to the ghost zone. He was too embarrassed to tell them that he went to Vlad. Maybe it was time to tell them the truth.

_Danny: Hey! Sorry for the late response, but I’m alright. I found help, it’s getting better. But I’ll stay for a while until I’m fully ok._

_Tuck: Oh! hi._

_Finally. We were worried. Where are you? Still in the ghost zone?_

Danny hesitated. He hated to lie. Especially to his friends. But if he told them about Vlad, they would come and visit him. Worse, they’d probably question his sanity and remind him of every bad thing Vlad has ever done. Danny sighed feeling nauseous and defeated.

_Danny: Yeah. I will talk you later! I’m still very drowsy_

_Tuck: Ok, take care!_

_Sam: I’m glad you’re ok! Be safe, Danny!_

_And tell us, if you need help xx_

_Danny: I will. Promise!_

Danny returned the phone to the side board and laid down. He felt incredibly exhausted.

* * *

A little bit more tension ;)

Next chapter will probably come on the weekend :)


	4. Chapter 4

During the next days, Danny woke up to either find himself alone with new food and water or with Vlad, who was cleaning the wound, changing the IV back, or checked for Danny’s fever. As he was slowly getting better, his body didn’t require that much sleep anymore, which resulted in endless boredom and loneliness. Vlad’s visits were the only thing that interrupted the monotonous days, it was only natural that Danny started to anticipate them. To his surprise, Vlad turned out to be the highlight of his day. However, the older was always very down to business. Danny tried to talk to him to make him stay longer, but Vlad answered all of his questions very matter-of-factly, without interrupting his work or staying any longer than necessary. He started to thank Vlad after every visit, as he felt horribly guilty for provoking him, but he never reacted to it. It made Danny feel even worse and more desolated.

Danny was already sitting upright, when Vlad entered the room today.

“You should be laying, not sitting up,” Vlad remarked.

“But I am feeling better.”

Vlad placed down the metallic tools and gloves on the sideboard, “Rest until the fever gets down.” He placed his hand on Danny’s forehead to assess his temperature, “You are still feverish. Give it a few more days.”

Danny sighed and slid down to a laying position, “Do you know for how much longer?”

“Maybe 2-3 days, then you can get up,” Vlad considered. “If you are bored, you can study. Are you not missing out a lot?”

“Well, it’s repetition anyway. But also exam period. I don’t have classes at the moment.”

“And you are sure, you won’t fail again?” Vlad sat down, already wearing gloves and started to carefully peel off the band aid. Danny was relieved that everything was hurting less. Not just the wound, but his whole body was not aching anymore with every breath he took.

“I don’t fail, because I am stupid. I fail because I don’t have time to study. There are more important things,” Danny was staring at the ceiling. He hated talking about this topic, but Vlad never missed an opportunity to bring it up.

“No, the problem is that you don’t understand, that there will always be ghosts coming to Amity Park, Daniel. You can’t fight everyone. Especially not all the time.”

“Maybe. But stopping to fight evil because there will always be more evil is not the right argument. Then I can also say, I don’t do the dishes, because they will be dirty again and if I don’t protect the people, who is going to?”

“Your parents? You’re trying to save everyone except yourself. Sometimes certain things need priorities,” Vlad looked at him briefly, before he continued his work. “Or to say it with your words: let someone else do the dishes from time to time.”

“I think keeping Amity Park save should be a higher priority than my grades,” Danny watched Vlad carefully now. He was more interesting than the ceiling. The man seemed concentrated, face slightly frowned, breathing steady and calm. Danny hasn’t seen the wound at all, he wanted to know if it was getting smaller or if it still looked awful with all the blood and ectoplasm. But it was at such an unfavorable spot on his left ribs, that he wasn’t able to see it by just turning his head. Thus, he turned a bit to his left side and placed one hand on his chest to pull the skin upwards. He tried to have a look at the wound.

“Don’t!” Vlad immediately grabbed his hand, ripping it away, “What are you trying to do? Do you have a death-wish?”

Danny clenched his teeth. Vlad’s grip was painful. “I just wanted to have a look,” he explained apologetically.

“If you mess it up, I won’t save you again. Leave it!” Vlad’s voice was sharp. He didn’t show bear his fangs, nor did his eyes turn red in anger, but the message was clear nonetheless.

“Ok, ok!” Danny tried to pull his hand back and Vlad released him. “Sorry!” It sounded harsher than it was intended. Vlad stared at him for a few more seconds before Danny turned his gaze back to the ceiling, then back to Vlad when he held something in front of his nose: a tissue. The older man sprayed it with disinfectant, as Danny could tell by the smell, “wipe your hand, I touched you with the gloves.”

Danny sighed but did as told.

The next two days progressed even slower. His body didn’t require that much sleep anymore and Danny became fully aware of how irritating the metallic bracelet on his wrist was, how boring he ceiling looked, how uncomfortable the bed was and that hardly anyone wrote him messages. The boredom and isolation agitated him immensely.

“The wound is healing nicely. It’s nearly closed. Maybe three to four days longer, then I will give you another medication to kill of the ghost side of it and you can go,” Vlad took off his gloves, he just had finished cleaning his wound again. “I used a water proof bandaid. You can shower, but be careful.”

“Really? I can get up?” The sudden bundle of joy grinned and set up directly, while kicking the blanket of his legs.

“Yes, but-“

“Be careful. Yes, I understood. And don’t touch.”

Vlad hummed in agreement, when Daniel already climbed off the bed, “Let me take the needle off.” Vlad reached for Daniel’s left hand and proceeded to lose the band aid that kept the needle in place. Afterwards, he pulled out the needle and pressed a pledget on the small wound until the blood clogged. Daniel was untypically quiet and patient while he kept his head hanging low. Vlad took a new band aid that he could place on the small wound caused by the needle, “Alright.”

He released Daniel’s hand, who still seemed fairly non respondent, “Daniel?”

To Vlad’s complete shock, the boy placed the patched up hand on his chest and leaned against him. Something in Vlad’s stomach tensed. Was this supposed to be…a hug? Vlad’s body and mind froze. The only person who came that close to him without the intention to arm, was Daniel’s father, who hugged him everytime they saw. Only then he noticed that Daniel’s leg started to give way. Immediately, he grabbed the boy on his upper arms to stop him from falling to the ground. Vlad huffed, when he noticed that Daniel did not completely lose consciousness.

“Where is all your eager now?” Vlad asked provokingly.

“Uh, that was a bit too fast,” Daniel murmured and placed his hands on Vlad’s lower arms for additional stability.

“You were laying for quite a while, give your body some time to adjust. Sit on the bed,” he wanted to steer the boy back to the bed, but he protested.

“I’m ok. I think I’m good,” he sounded everything else but stable and ‘good’, but the boy finally lifted his head and insecure azure blue met wary royal blue eyes.

“Thank you,” Daniel smiled and lifted his hands off Vlad’s arms, whereupon he released his grip likewise.

“You’re welcome,” that has probably been the only sincere ‘thank you’ he had heard from Daniel by now. “Alright, you know where everything is.” Daniel had been here a few times before, he knew where he could find the shower, so Vlad started to collect his tools and gloves and left him alone.

Something in his stomach was still tense. Was he so touch-starved that merely the idea of a hug led him freeze completely? Or was it because he was always on alarm when it came to Daniel? They mostly have been fighting, being that close to each other without ulterior motives was rare. Vlad had to admit that he liked the boy. He had liked him years before, but despite their fighting and Daniel’s naïve view of the world, he also liked his company. Vlad liked rules, order and patterns. He was able to see through the character and behavior of every person he met, which made the world a very dull and boring place. Sometimes he felt like the only person alive in a world full of puppets. However, Daniel was the exception. He could rarely estimate what the boy was going to do next and that was immensely refreshing. Even if it meant fighting. There would be a time, when the younger would understand, that Vlad only meant good for him.

Vlad was sitting at his table in the study, going through the notes that he had written down when he had examined Daniel’s wound. He was not yet sure which medication could help against the ghost part of the symbiont.

“Vlad?” He had noticed Daniel already minutes before he had the guts to speak up.

“Mh?” Vlad underlined something important without looking at the boy.

“I wanted to say thank you.”

“Oh?” he finally looked up. Daniel had showered, his black hair was still slightly wet, dripping on the new clothes. Vlad had organized a black T-shirt and a new pair of gray sweatpants that fit him better than the loose clothes he was normally wearing. Only now Vlad realized how much the boy had grown and that his long limps were now defined and toned. His face had become a little bit more prominent and his eyes were sharp. He had grown up, “I feel humbled. What an honor. A thank you from Daniel Fenton. If I am not mistaken, it’s even the second one for today.”

Daniel huffed and smiled, “Don’t make a big thing out of it.” He stepped into the room. The study consisted of walls full of books, but also 3 differently sized tables. He was sitting on the largest one, while a second smaller one was filled with notes and books of another project. The third table was mainly empty, as he rarely needed it. Vlad observed Daniel taking a look around before the eyes of the boy fell on the four school books that were laying on the third table.

“What?! Vlad, what? How did you get-? Are these my school books? What the fuck-“

“Language, Daniel,” he interrupted him sharply. “I figured you could use some studying before you can go home.”

“But how did you get them?”

Vlad stood up and walked over to the boy. “This might be shocking for you,” his voice was dripping with sarcasm, “but I can turn invisible. I grabbed the books from your room.”

“What? Are you saying you are a ghost?” Daniel laughed, joining in on his game and Vlad couldn’t stop himself from grinning in amusement.

“But how do you know where I live?” Daniel shot him a suspicious look now.

“You left your wallet and your ID card in your pants when you came here,” Vlad grabbed Daniel’s chin, forced him to hold his gaze, “did the last fight damage your brain?”

Daniel pushed him away and Vlad let him, but not without laughing about the annoyed face of the younger halfa, “Sit down, study a bit, if you’re bored.”

Daniel seemed uncertain. Vlad went back on his own desk to focus on his work. It didn’t matter to him if Daniel would study or use his time otherwise, as long as he was not disturbing his concentration. However, Vlad really hoped he would open the books. “Pens and paper are in the first drawer on the right,” he explained without looking up. For the next long minutes, he lost himself in his work, but when he looked up he saw Daniel sitting quietly at the desk, reading in one of the books. Vlad smiled to himself. Finally.

“What did you do the last 2 years?” Daniel interrupted the peaceful silence after only 20 minutes. Vlad exhaled deeply.

“Are you even trying, Daniel?”

“I studied.”

“Did you now?” Vlad got up, walked over to the boy and took the book out of his hands, followed by a short protest “Hey!”

“History, mh? Napoleon.” Vlad overflew the first abstract on the open page, ”When did Napolean crown himself as the new Emperor in Paris?”

“Really?!” The boy complained, but Vlad only gave him an expecting look. “I don’t know, I didn’t get to this part yet.”

“It’s the first sentence on the first page, Daniel!” Vlad exclaimed aghast. “Come on.” He put the book down on the table, a little bit too loud, but he was disappointed and he wanted Daniel to know.

Daniel raised out of his chair to glare at him, “Why do you even care?!” his voice got slightly louder, bringing some anger in this discussion.

Vlad was amused by Daniel’s silly idea to have any right to be angry, “I know it’s difficult for you to accept, but I do care for your grades. Latest now you should be able to concentrate.”

“I have other things on my mind,” the boy countered.

“Tell me then. What do you have on your mind except for getting back to good health?” He could clearly see how Daniel took this conversation as a threat. “Get a grip, little badger. This is not a fight. I am on your side.”

“Stay out of my life!” But the voice of the boy only grew sharper and louder.

Vlad noticed how Daniel clenched his fist and brought a bit more space in between them. He was not really going to attack him? Was he that insane? “I, very happily, remind you, that you came crawling to me, begging to take care of this life you talk about.”

The boy groaned and stroke a fist to Vlad’s face. He easily caught it before he came close, “Really, Daniel? You can’t even use your ghost powers.”

But Daniel took this as an invitation to strike with his other fist, “Don’t underestimate me!”

Vlad laughed while stopping the ridiculous attack, “Underestimate? I don’t even think you stand a chance as a ghost to my human form.” A rush of adrenaline ran through his body. He had missed this the past 2 years. The moment he released his hands, Daniel tried to kick him. But also the kick was blocked with no effort.

“Come one, you should rest,” Vlad gave him a smile, fully aware how his words would provoke the younger halfa even more. Daniel groaned, tried to rip off the metal bracelet on his arm without success and threw a few punches and kicks at Vlad, which were all too easily caught.

“Don’t get involved in my life,” Daniel spat at him. “You have no idea.”

“Oh, I think I very well have an idea. I am probably the only one that holds the full capacity to understand you,” Vlad stroke a punch, stopped it a centimeter in front of Daniel’s face, who gave him a shocked look. Vlad’s attack was a reminder of how things could be, if he took this fight seriously, but he didn’t want to hurt Daniel. He was still injured. But he should know, that he _could_ hurt him easily.

Daniel hesitated a second before he threw the next punch.

“Is it that difficult for you to accept my help?” Vlad asked. The boy was sweating by now, breathing loudly and heavy and his face was red. This was going too far. He needed rest.

“I don’t need your help!”

Vlad caught both of Daniel’s wrist, “Alright, enough fighting. You know full well that you _need_ my help, you just can’t accept it.”

Daniel exhaled loudly and locked eyes with Vlad for a few long seconds, “fuck you!”

Alright. Enough is enough.

* * *

A longer chapter for today.

Vlad is very pissed at the end ;) Let's see what he's going to do next!

I hope you enjoyed reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Notes are at the end

* * *

Alright. Enough is enough.

Vlad groaned, finally losing his patience with the boy. He understood. He understood very well, why the boy acted that way, but that didn’t mean he would play his game. This was his house, his rules and _his_ game. And while Vlad had taught himself some patience the last years, old habits die hard. Especially when dealing with an overreacting half human, half ghost boy. Vlad felt Plasmius flaring up inside him. Strong emotions always triggered his switch to his ghost form, but this wouldn’t be necessary for now.

With one quick movement, he spun the younger halfa around, bending his arms easily on his back and holding them in place with his right hand, while pushing Daniel face fist into the wall next to him. With his left hand he applied strong pressure to the shoulder of the boy. Vlad felt enormously pleased having Daniel that much under control. Finally under control. They were quite even when fighting in their ghost forms, however, what Daniel didn’t know was that Vlad had trained the past two years. They wouldn’t be even anymore.

Danny struggled against Vlad’s grip, but couldn’t move more than a few pathetic centimeters. His actions came to an abrupt halt, when he felt Vlad leaning forward and coming dangerously close to his neck with his mouth. The mouth with the enormous sharp teeth. It was more instinct than giving in that held Danny in place.

“You know,” Vlad’s voice was a low growl, feral and threatening. Danny could feel the warmth of his breath on his skin and the hair in his neck standing up in response. “You might be strong as Phantom, but you made the mistake to solely relay on your ghost powers. Where is your strength now?”

Danny opened his mouth to answer, but before a single tone left his lips, Vlad shifted, removed the hand from his shoulder and pressed it against his face. It _hurt_. Danny could basically feel every unevenness in the stone wall pressing into his cheek.

“And before you speak,” Vlad continued, voice low, “Strength also includes keeping control over your emotions.”

Danny was annoyed, angry and unbelievably tired. As if this would be so easy. He struggled against the grip, but his attempts were greeted with even more pressure against his face. His breathing was still fast and he could feel sweat dripping down his skin. Everywhere. Somewhere deep down, he knew the other halfa was right, but Danny would never accept that for himself. He was not strong as Danny Fenton and he for sure had no strength over his emotions. But better being too emotional than only being able to express … yeah, what? Was Vald cold? Distant? Evil? Not really, not anymore. Danny did not want to go down that road and avoid any kind of thoughts in that direction, so he did what he got used to do the past few weeks: he focused on his anger.

He knew he should give in and stay quiet. He was at the mercy of the older man and Vlad had already lost his temper. It might be just one additional sentence and he’d turn into Plasmius. One strong punch at his human body could actually kill him. But giving in was not in Danny’s nature, “What do you want to hear? You had about 20 years more training and experience than I did!” And with that Danny completely neglected what Vlad had said about emotional strength.

“And you are younger, faster and more flexible and have the possibility to experience your ghost nature at a younger age,” the older shot back.

Danny felt unbelievably uncomfortable in this position. He wanted to face Vlad, wanted to see his face and more importantly, he wanted to be able to breath freely. But to Danny’s shock, he realized that there was a part in him that wanted to embrace this situation. This situation? Vlad? No, definitely not simply Vlad. The help he had offered him? No … Danny pressed his eyes shut, breathing was really difficult and his arms and cheek started to hurt severely. He had no control over his body anymore.

_Control._

Danny opened his eyes in shocking realization. He wanted this …. _control?_ In all honestly, there was something alluring about just giving in. Giving in with his mind and body. Giving in to someone that would just show him the right way. To someone that had answers and that made him feel at peace with himself. But this was not supposed to be Vlad. Danny gasped. _No! No! No! No! No!_

With one fast movement, Vlad jerked him away from the wall and spun him around. For a brief moment, Danny thought he could finally escape, but Vlad grabbed him by the shoulders and kept him pinned to the wall. Their eyes locked and Danny panicked when he could not name the emotion he saw in Vlad’s face, “Let me go! What do you want?”

“What do _I_ want?” Vlad exclaimed bewildered. “I want you to calm down, study and stop making this difficult.”

He tried to break free from the iron grip, but again couldn’t. Danny was suddenly aware how much the wound at his rips was hurting and burning. He had not expected Vlad to actually wanting him to calm down. He had expected to see rage in the older man’s eyes, but apparently he really wanted Danny to stop and study. Was he the one misinterpreting all of this? He took a shaky breath in. Than another one. But despite trying to calm down, he nearly shouted at Vlad when he spoke, “Sorry for making your life difficult, I didn’t ask for this!” No. No calmness, just anger. He was angry. At himself for not being able to properly say thank you to Vlad and to trust him and at Vlad for being such an annoying douche.

Vlad’s face showed a range of emotions in response, while his voice fell soothingly quiet, all in contrast to his fierce grip on Danny’s shoulders, which didn’t allow him to move even for a bit, “Little badger, you brought this up multiple times now. I’m starting to think you didn’t want to be rescued by me.”

“Rescued yes, but not by someone like you!” Danny spoke without thinking. This was something he hadn’t learned until now: Thinking before speaking when he was in a heated argument. Damn, Vlad was right. He had no control over himself.

“Someone like me?”

Danny didn’t even hear Vlad’s question. He kept on speaking, words suddenly sputtering out of his mouth without holding back. He knew he was making a mistake, but he was not able to stop himself, “Someone that is so pathetic, he would rescue me – his enemy – for the sake of not being alone for at least a few days – weeks.”

Danny’s eyes widened in shock, when he comprehended his own words. _Shit_. This is not what he had wanted to say. _Shit, shit._ He braced himself for a range of punches, for the anger and disappointment Vlad must feel, but against all odds, he just loosened the grip on his shoulders and looked at him calmly.

Silence surrounded them like a suffocating blanket. Danny heard his own breathing and was suddenly embarrassed by his helpless attempts to still his breath. This was worse than any punch. Why was Vlad so calm? Why was he not reacting like he used to? Did he just not care anymore? Danny dropped his gaze to his feet, he couldn’t look Vlad in the eyes any longer. He suddenly felt really exhausted. He could hear his blood running in his hears, his heavy and fast heart beat and he could feel his sweat running down his back. He had made such a big mistake. He deeply regretted opening his mouth.

“I am sorry,” he managed shyly without looking up. “I didn’t mean it. Any of it.” He looked up, met Vlad’s gaze only for a second, before the older halfa took two steps back and started to turn to walk away from Danny. He panicked. He had really messed up. What was he even thinking? Insulting the man that had saved him, even when he had all the rights to just let him die? He had gone too far. Danny stepped forward, grabbed Vlad’s left wrist and forced him … asked him to stay for a moment. He spoke immediately, fearing Vlad would break off his grip any second.

“I am sorry,” Danny said again, but this time with more bluntness. “I am, Vlad. The last weeks, more months, something is changing in me. I get more angry, I feel all my emotions so much more intense and something in me wants to get in trouble to feel more emotions, if that makes any sense. It feels like all my negative emotions are amplified and I somehow … want this.”

Vlad didn’t respond. This was not enough. A two sentence apology could not redo what he had said. Danny hectically searched for more words. He was not good at this, but he also felt like that this was the last chance to safe this new found peace with Vlad, “I really am sorry. I don’t think of you like that. I know I would have died in your hallway and you had all the rights to just let me. I don’t think of you like that. I don’t think you are pathetic. I admire you. You are smart, you know everything about anything of this and the ghost world. You try to help me even if I keep on being an asshole to you. And you learned everything about your ghost powers by yourself without going crazy. I admire that, I don’t know where I would be today without my friends. I’m sorry. I don’t know what is happening with me recently,” Danny felt his eyes tearing up. Why was Vlad not reacting at all? “Why are you not angry? Can’t you just attack me and we fight like we used to? Or at least say something,” he pleaded now.

“It’s your ghost,” Vlad said too monotonous.

“What?”

“You’re getting older, stronger and you learn more about your human body and mind. So is the ghost part in you,” he explained matter-of-factly.

“What?” He did understand, but his brain seemed unable to process this sudden change of tone and atmosphere.

“Daniel, we have both seen what your ghost is able to do without any human boundaries. Can’t you remember?”

Danny looked away instantly when he remembered, because he was embarrassed and ashamed about his possible future self that he had to fight a long while ago. Vlad was right. “Oh,” he didn’t manage to say anything else.

“It’s a natural process. Your ghost gets stronger, so is your human form. Everything should stay balanced, but if your human self struggles to a great extent, your ghost self manages to break through your boundaries. You are sick, stressed and I guess dealing with a range of other things in your human life, aren’t you?”

Danny managed to look Vlad in the eyes again, “I will become like… _that_ if my human side…weakens?”

“No,” the answer came quick and assuring. “This can only happen in complete absence of your human self. But this propensity for trouble, as you called it, and amplification of negative emotions is caused by your imbalance.”

Danny pursed his lips in thoughts and realized that he was still holding on to Vlad’s wrist. He let go and finally calmed down a little bit. His breathing stilled. Was it that simple? Was the answer to his troubles that easy? He just needed to balance himself?

“You are not angry?” he doubtfully asked again.

“No. Come on Daniel, we both know that you like and admire me,” Vlad spoke with a cocky smile on his lips, which turned into a laugh, when he saw the shock in Daniel’s face. Even better, the boy blushed slightly.

“Hey!” Daniel punched him jokingly in the arm, “You have quite some strong wishful thinking!”

Vlad fully relaxed when Daniel laughed. The boy had been close to trying just a few minutes ago. “Should I quote you?” he teased. “I admire you-“

“Oh God, stop, stop that!” The boy shouted incredibly embarrassed, which made Vlad laugh even more.

“Ok, ok,” he offered peace.

“But, if I can ask, how did you find out? About this balance thing. There are no other halfas except for us?”

* * *

Hey guys,

sorry for this late upload. I had a lot of stress the past 2 weeks. Sorry, for making you wait so long.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

There was quite some tension ;)

Thank you for all the kudos and comments. It's always super motivating to read how thrilled you are :D I love that! Next chapter will hopefully be written faster!


	6. Chapter 6

Here you go :)

* * *

“Every human being has and grows a ghost in their inside,” Vlad was sitting in one of his comfortable armchairs in the center of his library. Daniel was sitting across of him on the small couch, bending forward, elbows resting on his knees, while he was listening to Vlad’s explanation. “Your ‘inner ghost’ grows and develops according to your life, your suppressed emotions, your anger and hate and finally the way of how you die. If the ghost in a person gets fed so many negative emotions during a lifetime, it’s consumed by these emotions and stays close to the place where most of the emotions were fed into it. This is how some places are haunted. I discovered this when,” he made a small pause, hesitating with how much information he should share with the boy. While he started to trust him, Daniel was impulsive and very easily influenced by other people’s opinions. It wouldn’t take much for him to spill secrets that Vlad thought were better meant to stay in between them, but he finally gave in, “When I felt the negativity in me taking over,” he explained.

“Oh,” Daniel seemed intrigued, as if Vlad would tell him the most fascinating story. The older halfa huffed and went on with his explanation.

“A while ago I had stumbled upon a story of a small city in France, that was known to forge a special kind of metal to fight ghosts during the medieval ages. They found out, that houses build with patches of this metal would protect the inhabitants from hunting ghosts. I went on a small quest and found the very bracelet you are wearing right know.”

“France, huh. Did you wear it yourself?”

“Yes. I thought by suppressing my ghost form, I could clear my head a little bit.”

“Did it work? Because I still feel the same.”

Very impatient. Vlad leaned back in his armchair. “No, it didn’t. As a halfa, it does not matter in which form you are. Walking the earth as a human 23 hours a day and spend 1 hour as a ghost, does not give your human side strength.”

“Oh,” Daniel leaned back likewise, crossed his arms and stared down at his knees, lost in thoughts. Vlad observed him for a few moments.

“What it is?” he finally asked and Daniel responded by looking him in the eyes, then away. It was too obvious that he was pondering if he should share his thoughts or not.

“I,” he began, hesitated, but then found the courage to speak, which gave Vlad a slight feeling of gratification. “I think I am unbalanced and I don’t know how to … control this?”

“Strengthen your human side is easy, but it needs determination.”

“How do you strengthen it?”

Vlad watched how Daniel’s left hand brushed absent-mindedly over his rips, exactly at the height of the wound. He should check on the wound, if the band aid got lose blood or wound secrete could cause a new infection. He would also have to clean his couch. Vlad got up and earned a questioning look from the boy.

“You can strengthen your human side by reducing stress, which is not always easy, I know and focusing on emotional and physical growth. I train in human form, meditate and engage in activities and interests, that are not ghost related. Meet me in your room.” He turned to Plasmius to phase through the ceiling just slow enough to hear a faint annoyed groan from Daniel. The boy had to take the stairs.

* * *

Danny held still, when Vlad carefully took off the blood and ectoplasm soaked band-aid. Moving around did not do good on the healing process. He tried to observe what Vlad was doing, but he still was unable to see anything, so he proceeded to stare at the ceiling. It didn’t hurt anymore and while he got used to Vlad sitting next to him in silence, he could not stand the silence right now.

“You … meditate?” He asked with slight amusement. He could not picture Vlad Masters meditating. The image of the man sitting in a room full of candles and meditation music made him grin.

“Yes. It would also do good for you. As well as training and engaging in anything else than school and friends,” Vlad spoke low and matter-of-factly, which gave Danny the feeling he had said something wrong.

“I don’t have time for that,” Danny admitted. He could barely put school, friends and saving the town from ghost together.

“There is always enough time, you just set your priorities wrong.”

And now he felt even worse. Danny sighed and waited until Vlad finished cleaning the wound and exchanging the band aid. He was clearly not the guy to meditate, but training could help. Probably also getting rid of all the stress at school. He stared at the ceiling for a little longer, but then shifted his gaze towards Vlad, who was fully concentrated on his work. Is this why the other halfa had changed over the past years? Plasmius had suddenly disappeared from the ghost zone and shortly after that Vlad Masters had announced a long business trip. Logically, he had stopped taking part in the occasional dinners with his parents. Danny had been sure that he was still in town and just stayed at his villa. The business trip was a bluff, so nobody would disturb him. However, Danny had checked on the villa a couple of times in the beginning, but had never encountered Vlad. They really hadn’t seen for a long while. Was Vlad unbalanced before and had shifted his priorities now? Or was he simply plotting another evil master plan that took more time to figure out? No, he shouldn’t go down that road again. His thoughts went silent, when Danny tried to suppress any distrust towards the man.

“Can you show me how to train?” The words sputtered out of Danny’s mouth before he could think. Vlad looked up, he was done cleaning the wound and was just about to take his gloves off. He pulled down Danny’s shirt before he answered, “Not in your current state.”

“I meant later. When I’m good again.”

Vlad broke the eye contact to collect all the cleaning material and got up, “Yes, why not.”

He didn’t seem convinced, but Danny grinned anyway, “Thanks!”

“The wound is healing nicely, I will take the bracelet off soon. After this you should rest another week to give your body time to adjust. Rest now, I will bring you dinner.”

* * *

Danny had eaten alone in his room, wondering where all the food had come from. Was Vlad cooking dinner on his own, or was someone cooking for him? He was a billionaire, so having a cook was to be expected, but he had never seen anyone else in this house, plus Vlad liked his privacy.

He had been texting with Pete for the rest of the evening. Their next exam was in exactly 9 days and they were discussing an exercise they both struggled with already for a while. It was a physics exam. He liked physics, but he had a hard time remembering all the formulas and rules. It didn’t take long until their chatting changed to small talk. They made a plan of meeting in four days to study together and have a beer afterwards. Danny put the phone away and had an immediate urge to turn into ghost to phase through the walls and see what Vlad was up to. He could take the stairs, but he felt such a strong tiredness, that he decided to go to sleep.

Danny woke up when the first rays of sun were hitting the window. He tried to stay in bed, it was definitely too early, but his body craved for movement, now that he felt better every day. He showered, before he made his way downstairs. Was Vlad already up? He passed many closed doors and curiosity let Danny ponder if he should open them and have a look inside. He would just be searching for Vlad and not just satisfy his curiosity, of course, but even then Vlad would be angry if he gets caught.

So Danny decided to start searching for him in library and if he wasn’t be there, he would have a look at other rooms. That was a good compromise, wasn’t it?

Danny opened the door to the library. Despite Vlad not being there, he slowly stepped into the large room, strolling around the tables, grimacing when he saw his school books laying on one and ending up in front of the large table that Vlad had been working on yesterday. Four books were open, displaying foreign figures, drawings and one book was even written in a language that Danny couldn’t identify. There were handwritten notes in the center of the desk. Danny’s eyes shortly wandered through the library, then he carefully had a look through the notes. They were written by Vlad, as Danny reasoned from the pompous handwriting. Curios what Vlad was studying he began to read through the papers. They were about some kind of elixir or mix of … weird ingredients. Danny furled his eyebrows in his attempt to make sense of this. It seemed like some kind of toxin. What was it for? Danny glanced at the books, maybe they could tell him more.

“Curious, little badger?”

Danny spun around, startled and immediately feeling a rush of adrenalin and guilt. Vlad was standing so close to him, that there was hardly any room for him to move, he tried backing off, but his butt bummed against the table and left him no room to flee. The older had a predatory look in his eyes and a threatening grin. He was not wearing is usual suit, but sweatpants and a white tank top. Danny realized the sweat film on the exposed skin and the slightly wet hair. He must have been training, which would explain why his muscles were pumped and why he seemed so charged.

“I didn’t mean to-“ he tried.

“Oh, you very well meant to, Daniel,” Vlad countered amused, but with a slight hint of threat in his voice.

The urge to turn ghost had never been stronger than right now. Despite the fact that he had grown quite a bit, he suddenly felt very small and unfortunately, equally helpless.

“I’m sorry – It was-“

“And don’t try to blame it on your ghost nature,” Vlad growled, leaning in closer. Danny looked away. “Ok, I am sorry, I was curious and everything was laid plainly open.”

When Vlad didn’t answer immediately he looked back up. Maybe Vlad had been right. While the other halfa had always been strong in his human form, he seemed even stronger now. Danny was sure he would stand a good chance as a ghost, but human Vlad was horribly intimidating. He really should start training himself.

“If you are curious, just ask. This is my house, of course I leave things in the open. I allow you to roam free here, but I don’t like someone going through my things. If you are curious - ask.”

Danny pursed his lips and nodded, which made Vlad finally step back, giving him the space to breath. This was different. Danny could deal with Vlad’s anger, but this was simply … intimidating. He could feel all the hair in his neck standing up, his heart racing and his stomach turning. Especially, because he was not able to foresee how Vlad was going to act.

“I will shower,” he spoke with a more casual voice.

“Yeah, you smell, fruitloops.”

“I am pretty sure I don’t.”

Danny watched him suspiciously. He did indeed not smell anything. That was weird. He could see the sweat dripping from the man’s face. How come he had absolutely no smell? Vlad seemed puzzled, then openly concerned, “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what exactly?” Did he miss something?

“Daniel, are you even paying any attention to yourself? You lost your body smell when you turned a halfa.”

He had not known this. “I did?” he exclaimed, strongly suppressing the urge to lift his arms to smell himself.

“You have a long way to go,” the older said with a defeated tone before turning to Plasmius to leave the library.

The second he was gone, Danny tried to smell himself. He indeed had no body smell. Why had he never noticed this? And _why_ exactly was that a ghost thing?

He was sitting in the couch when Vlad entered the room again half an hour later. This time he was wearing his regular pants and a white and clean T-shirt. His hair was still wet from the shower and openly hanging on his shoulders. Danny wasn’t sure why, but this way the man seemed way more approachable and congenial. He always seemed so uptight in his suit and now looked like a normal human being. Well, “normal”…

* * *

It was early in the evening, when Vlad exited his lab to phase through the ceiling back into his library. He had been trying to figure out how he can kill the ghostly part of the symbiotic creature that caused Daniel’s wound and had spent the last few hours in the lab. His eyes immediately fell on Daniel, who was studying for school. Vlad was pleased that the boy had taken their talk yesterday by heart. He had offered Daniel some help, which, to his surprise, he had accepted. Every 2 hours Vlad would question his progress and explain a few matters in case Daniel didn’t understand. He found out that the boy learned best by practicing or listening instead of reading and writing. It was immensely pleasing to Vlad seeing improvement in someone he taught. He also felt a weird kind of appreciation that the boy finally had asked him to help and was listening to his explanations without interruptions. Maybe he was more fond of him than he liked to admit.

“Follow me to your room,” he simply commanded, before he moved further up. Daniel entered the door a few moments later, slightly out of breath from the stairs and his weakened body. Daniel took off his shirt and hopped on the bed without further explanation and Vlad proceeded to put on his gloves and removing the band aid.

“The wound closed,” he said triumphant.

“Really?!”

“Yes,” he traced two of gloved fingers carefully over the newly formed skin, waiting for a reaction from the boy, but none came. So no pain anymore. “I will clean the skin one last time, to be sure, but we can leave the band aid off. Tomorrow I will remove the bracelet.”

Daniel seemed excited, which evoked some kind of excitement in him as well. Once the had cleaned the skin he offered Daniel the mixture he had made the last few hours in his lab. It was black, bubbled occasionally and wouldn’t taste great if Vlad went by the smell of it, but the boy only had to drink about 200 ml.

“Here, drink this.”

Daniel made a grimace. “This doesn’t look safe at all. What is it for?”

“It will kill of the ghost part of the symbiont,” Vlad explained.

Daniel didn’t take the glass bottle out of his hands. “Trust me. If I had wanted to kill you, there are definitely more entertaining ways,” he gave him a smile.

“It’s not that. It’s just … are you sure there are no side-effects?”

“Trust me, it will be ok.” There might be sight effects, but Vlad honestly doubted it. He watched how Daniel hesitated for a whole minute, then grabbed the bottle, swirled the drink around for a while and finally drank it. The boy seemed surprised, “That didn’t taste that bad, actually.”

“Alright,” he took the bottle back. Honestly, he was a bit wary about possible side effects, but he had been very careful in studying the ingredients and in preparing the drink. It should be safe, he told himself. He observed Daniel for a few moments, but the boy just shrugged and smiled stating that he didn’t feel anything.

They went to bed shortly after.

But Vlad couldn’t sleep. He always meditated before going to bed but he couldn’t concentrate. It was in the middle of the night, when he turned invisible to check on Daniel. He wanted to tell himself, that it was his scientific curiosity if his experiment succeeded, but he was well aware, that he was worried about the boy. He stepped close to the bed, leaning over Daniel to have a good look in the dark. Daniel was laying on his stomach, breathing silently but steady. Relieved, he watched the face of the boy for a few moments, becoming again aware of how much he had aged, before he left the room and tried to get some sleep.

* * *

And this was the next chapter :)

What do you think?

The next one is already in the making!


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